Acts 16:30b Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

Paul’s answer to the jailer was simple and true. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.”

That’s it, pure and simple, nothing else is required. Baptism doesn’t save you. Works don’t save you. Going to church every Sunday doesn’t save you. Nothing and nothing else is required for salvation. Period.

Now prove it.

“What? Prove it. I don’t have to prove it. It is what it is, period.”

How do you know?

2 Timothy 2:15a Study to shew thyself approved…..

You have nothing to prove to anyone except yourself. Salvation is too important to leave up to someone else to tell you about your status before God. You shouldn’t take anyone’s opinion on the matter. Prove it to yourself.

“Well I read the bible all the time. Really? Is that the same as study?”

One of the definitions of study is a detailed investigation and analysis of a subject or situation.

“I don’t have time for that, That’s what I pay a preacher for.”

Really? A pastor feeds his flock, you still have to digest it!

Matthew 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

They thought they were saved but were not. Thinking isn’t believing.

The truth is being saved is just the beginning of your walk with Jesus. There is a lot more to this relationship than mere salvation.

But don’t take my word for it.

Prove it to yourself.

Acts 26:26 For the king knoweth of these things, before whom also I speak freely: for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him; for this thing was not done in a corner.

It saddens me that the only contact with the bible some get is through the theater or television. It can be entertaining but all too often it is exactly that theater. Anyone with a mild acquaintance with history can pick apart many of the story lines. The issues of entertaining over substance often misleads the viewer away from the real issues. It did happen as the bible says.

The reason I say that is because of this very verse, it was not done in a corner. It happened openly, there were many witnesses, there were many historians, and there are reliable resources from outside the religious community. Yet sadly the world is in such a rush these days that few slow down long enough to investigate the essentials for themselves.

Being a serious student of the Word, being one who is dedicated to seek out all that I can discover in matters which hold salvation, mercy and grace out to a world which needs to hear the truth, I have to admit I don’t always get it right. I discover that because I keep seeking.

I enjoy theater as much as anyone, but I see it as just that theater. One of the exercises I have proposed to our youth leader is to take a bible movie and have the youth compare the movie with the bible. This suggestion is not to pick at screenwriters, because their jobs are difficult. They have to sell it to the producers so that it can become a movie and be seen by the public. The viewer has the responsibility to understand that which is theater and that which is biblically accurate.

The question is, do we care enough to know the truth?